Grassroots renewable energy group transforms West Hackney church into ‘greenest in the country’

Stokey Energy’s co-founder says they have made a Hackney church the ‘greenest’ in the UK. Photograph: Sam Silverlock

A Hackney church has been dubbed the “greenest” in the country after it was transformed by a community energy project.

Last year, in an ambitious final project of outgoing Reverend Niall Weir, St Paul’s Church in West Hackney teamed up with local group Stokey Energy to revolutionise the way they get their energy. 

The installation of 104 solar panels, four air source heat pumps and three Tesla batteries has made their output virtually net zero. The church is now exporting 77 per cent of the electricity they produce back to the National Grid. 

Co-founder of Stokey Energy, Tom Campbell, said: “We like to describe it as the greenest church in the country. It’s certainly got more panels on it than any other church in London.”

Solar panels on the roof of St Paul’s West Hackney in Stoke Newington. Photograph: Sam Silverlock

After nearly 20 years at St Paul’s, Revd Weir brought together funding from the council, the London Olympics Legacy Fund and the church itself to get the pioneering project off the ground. Sam Silverlock, St Pauls’ gardener, said: “I think the community backing of it is really important, people have seen that something can happen, it’s quite a hopeful thing.”

Campbell said this was the strength of community energy. “It’s quite hard if you’re an individual to overcome just a sense of powerlessness and what can I do? Whereas, at the community level you can actually have that kind of impact,” he said. “You can put solar panels on your school, you can massively reduce the carbon emissions and bills of your sports club.”

Stokey Energy was founded back in 2019, when a group of Stoke Newington residents came together in a local pub to discuss what they could do to help. 

“We thought well let’s do something practical, something tangible, that could make a bit of a difference as well as supporting the movement,” said Campbell. 

They quickly got to work and have since installed solar panels on over a dozen buildings across the borough, from The Hackney Empire to Betty Layward Primary School.

It was Stokey Energy’s first project, putting panels on the roof of Stoke Newington School in 2021, that helped kickstart Hackney Council’s wider investment in community energy. Originally funded by the London Community Energy Fund, created in 2017 by London mayor Sadiq Khan to support similar projects, the success of the installation inspired Hackney Council to set up its own version of the scheme.

The Hackney Community Energy Fund (HCEF) has since awarded nearly £1 million in grants to local schools, faith groups and community centres working with not-for-profit energy organisations like Stokey Energy to install renewables and improve energy efficiency. The programme has supported nearly 50 projects across the borough, from LED retrofits to energy-saving upgrades.

Heat pumps installed at St Paul’s West Hackney. Photograph: Gabriel Stewart

Cllr Sarah Young, cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport said: “It’s fantastic to see how our Community Energy Fund is empowering local groups to make a real difference. We believe in working with our community to create a greener future for everyone.” 

The council aims to expand solar to the majority of suitable council residential buildings, schools and all viable corporate buildings by 2040, contributing to the borough-wide target of 80 Megawatts of solar and battery capacity. 

Stokey’s Energy work is already reducing bills across the borough. Their solar panel installation at Jubilee Primary School in 2024 has managed to cut the school’s energy bill by 45 per cent – saving them £15,000 a year. 

Headteacher Norma Hewins said: “Having these solar panels installed has been fantastic for the school. We have an eco-committee made up of pupils from across the school, who were involved with some of the solar panel fundraising.”

The solar panels, alongside other sustainability projects, have helped Jubilee retain the Eco Schools Award for the last three years. Hewins said: “Pupils at Jubilee are really passionate about taking action to combat climate change and protect future generations.”

For Campbell, the benefit of this work within schools is at the heart of why they do it: “If you’re in a hospital, a big school, a housing estate that has solar panels or an air source heat pump, you might not have a direct sense of ownership of it. Whereas when we put solar panels on a school, it becomes part of their learning, their teaching.”

Stokey Energy have just launched their new Green Streets campaign which will give residents a group discount if they can get five or 10 households in their area to come together to get solar. Find out more here.